You would think that banning a documentary about free speech would be a bad look for a cultural institution. But that’s precisely what Rich Mix in east London has just done.
We were all set to hold the premiere of our documentary, Think Before You Post, about the rise of the British speech police, at Rich Mix on Tuesday 25 November. But last night, we received an email saying the venue would be ‘terminating [our] booking contract’.
‘Since confirming your booking, it has come to light that the content and speakers featured do not align with our values and mission here at Rich Mix’, reads the email. ‘Our founding objectives are to support marginalised communities (primarily communities facing racial inequity), promote intercultural understanding, eliminate racial discrimination, and foster equality of opportunity through arts and culture.’
Those of you who have watched the documentary might be wondering what this is getting at. After all, the film is about the people who have been arrested, prosecuted and even held on remand for alleged speechcrime – even though they hadn’t said anything the least bit hateful.
Rich Mix claims that the ‘nature of the event was not fully disclosed to us upon booking’. This is despite the fact the documentary was already available to watch online when we snagged the slot. And all of the speakers who were due to take part in the post-screening Q&A were in the film itself.
I wish I could say I was surprised. The cultural sector is overrun with woke scolds who wouldn’t know what free speech is if it bit them on the Birkenstocks. The fella who emailed us about the cancellation naturally had his pronouns in his email signature, too.
This isn’t even the first time our documentary about censorship has been censored. On X, it has been slapped with age restrictions, despite having no age-inappropriate content in it, thanks to the illiberal Online Safety Act.
I suppose we should be happy to have been proven right. But vindication is cold comfort when it comes at the cost of a great evening of screening the film and discussing it with our contributors, friends and – most importantly – supporters.
If you have bought tickets, please bear with us. We are working flat-out to find a new venue for the same night. But if we fail to do so, we will of course refund everyone in full, and postpone for a later date. (If you’d like a refund now anyway, just get in touch and we’ll process it.)
In any case, we are determined not to be silenced. Clearly, the core message of Think Before You Post – for free speech and against censorship – is more important than ever. Even if it doesn’t jive with the sacred ‘values’ of Rich Mix.
Watch Think Before You Post, the documentary they don’t want you to watch, below:
Tom Slater is editor of spiked. Follow him on X: @Tom_Slater
